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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28774776">Ace of Spiders</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilRadRidingHood/pseuds/LilRadRidingHood'>LilRadRidingHood</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Silk (Comics), Spider-Man (Comicverse)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Asexual Character, Coming Out, Gen, One Shot, they talk about the weird pheromone thing but do not act on it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:33:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28774776</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilRadRidingHood/pseuds/LilRadRidingHood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cindy realizes she might be asexual.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cindy Moon &amp; Peter Parker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ace of Spiders</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cindy's been spending a lot of time catching up on media.</p>
<p>When Peter came back from having his life taken over by Doc Ock, Johnny Storm gave him a flash drive containing all the TV, movies, and music he missed while he was gone. And when Johnny found out about Cindy's time in the bunker, he did something similar for her. He gave her a flash drive with highlights from all the stuff she missed. It didn't cover everything from those ten years, but it was a start.</p>
<p>She also started spending a bit of time on social media. Mainly on Tumblr, after hearing about it from Rafferty. There, Cindy finds some discussion of identities she's never even heard of before. And there's one term in particular that stands out to her.</p>
<p><em>Asexual</em>.</p>
<p>Cindy's never really thought about sexual attraction on its own, but the idea of being asexual does make a striking amount of sense. In fact, she's pretty sure there's only one person she's that kind of attraction towards, and that could be blamed on radioactive spider pheromones. That person, of course, was her friend and self-appointed mentor, Peter Parker.</p>
<p>It takes a few rings for him to answer his phone.</p>
<p>"Hey, Goose," he says.</p>
<p>"Hey, you busy?"</p>
<p>"Swamped. What's up?"</p>
<p>"I've been researching something," Cindy says. "Kinda got me thinking… Remember when we first met? And we couldn't stay off each other?"</p>
<p>She hears Peter cough. "Yeah?"</p>
<p>"Is that normal? I mean, have you felt like that before?"</p>
<p>Peter chuckles. "No, thankfully, I've never had that problem with anyone else before."</p>
<p>"Okay, yeah, but how about now?" Thankfully, the pheromones got much easier to resist, so now they can actually be next to each other without making out. "It's weaker, but the attraction's still there, right? Does it feel normal to you?"</p>
<p>"Well, sure. I guess it's not so different from how I'd normally be attracted to someone."</p>
<p>Cindy purses her lip. "Huh."</p>
<p>"Are you okay?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm just figuring some things out."</p>
<p>"Wanna come over?"</p>
<p>"No. Maybe. No."</p>
<p>She ends the call.</p>
<p>Cindy sighs and lies splayed out on her mattress. It seems like she should have her answer by now, but she doesn't. How can she be <em>sure</em>?</p>
<p>Except maybe… maybe that doesn't matter. Because even if she doesn't know—even if she's not one hundred percent sure the term "asexual" perfectly describes her—she knows it means <em>something</em>. She knows that when she found out it was a thing, parts of her life just <em>made sense</em>. And maybe that's enough.</p>
<p>The following night, Cindy's sitting on the edge of a rooftop when she hears a voice call out from below.</p>
<p>"Why, if it isn't Jonah's favorite new spider-hero Silk!"</p>
<p>She looks down to see Spider-Man crawling up the side of the building.</p>
<p>Before she can ask what he's doing here, he says, "Just happened to be in the neighborhood. Couldn't help but notice you seemed pretty deep in thought." Peter sits down next to her. "Wanna talk?"</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>The answer slips out automatically—Cindy's still not the best at holding in her immediate response. But Peter knows her by now. He waits.</p>
<p>"Look, nothing's wrong," Cindy says. "I'm just…" She takes a deep breath, and slowly, she finally says it. "I'm asexual."</p>
<p>Peter stares. "Uuuuh… I don't think we're thinking of the same definition of that word."</p>
<p>"It's a sexual orientation," Cindy says. "Like bisexual or heterosexual, except I'm not sexually attracted to <em>anyone</em>. Well, there's you, but that's because of the spider bite."</p>
<p>"So <em>that's</em> why you were asking all those questions!"</p>
<p>She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I kinda just realized it yesterday."</p>
<p>"Well, that's… that's great! Right?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," Cindy says quietly. Then, with more conviction, "Yeah. It feels good to say it out loud. <em>I'm asexual</em>. It feels right."</p>
<p>"I'm happy for you." Then, in one quick breath, Peter adds, "Also glad it didn't turn out you're secretly in love with me, because after last night's talk-"</p>
<p>"Dude."</p>
<p>"What? You asked about my attraction to you! What was I supposed to think?"</p>
<p>"<em>Dude</em>."</p>
<p>"Okay, okay, I'll shut up now."</p>
<p>"Good," Cindy says, punching him playfully on the shoulder. Even if he <em>is</em> the only person she's had sexual attraction with, that's all it is. To her, that has nothing to do with being in love. "Because I think I prefer you as a friend over anything else."</p>
<p>Peter smiles. "Yeah," he says. "Me too."</p>
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